With President Bush unable to get much traction so far in moving his agenda through Congress or in improving his job-approval ratings with the public, White House advisers are casting about for ways to jump-start his final two years, including issuing executive orders to get things done without having to ask for support from the Democratic-controlled Congress.
AP - U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper Thursday into Sunni militant strongholds in Baghdad where cars rigged with explosives greeted their advance while British-led teams in southern Iraq used shipping containers to block suspected weapon smuggling routes from Iran.
AP - Democrats are challenging President Bush's power to wage war, contending they've found a way to block a troop increase in Iraq and prevent any pre-emptive invasion of Iran.
AP - National Guardsmen in Humvees ferried food, fuel and baby supplies Thursday to hundreds of motorists stranded on a 50-mile stretch of highway for nearly a day by a monster storm blamed for 15 deaths.
Iraqi police have wounded the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq and killed his top aide, a spokesman for the Iraqi Interior Ministry told CNN Thursday. The spokesman said Iraqi police have the body of the aide but he would not comment on if Abu Ayyub al-Masri was captured. The U.S. military has so far made no comment on the report. CNN has not independently confirmed the report.